Think you know what the top scam of 2023 was? Take a guess

Thank you for sharing information that I was not aware of. When people take pleasure in being deceitful! You can no longer trust in laws (especially) or your own family. The more J know the more I am aware of protecting myself and helping others as well!!

I think Congress should pass a bill to penalize the scammers.

Thank you for the information!

I’m surprised that text messages wasn’t listed as a means of fraud or attempted fraud. I get phishing texts the most, followed by phone calls. Lately, I’ve received a few emails with a PDF attachment that is an alleged invoice. I don’t open it. It’s very interesting to watch the scammers attempts to get information or money from me. I’m already a victim of identity theft due to some major data breaches in 2021 to current, so I’m especially careful.

I've been gettng over 50 "lewd and suggestive" emails every day. I have blocked these and as of this morning there were over 199. Can this list be sent directly? They are insulting, and I would rather forward this to you, if possible.

Enid Hurwitz

Thank you. Very important info!

So, My comment is simple---why isn't there more done to stop this? You have the most sophisticated people people working within the US---there should be a cure for this--shame on America for not having the answer!!!

I have brighten a few items on line and got scared. It is hard to tell the difference between a legit company and a phoney one.

My 90 year old trusting and naive Mom has been sending 50 + small checks a month to various 'non-profits' associated with USA Cash Draw and other socalled million dollar sweepstakes. The operation is associated with many unfamiliar 'non-profits', giving her the idea that she is helping folks while assuring she will win at least one of the 20,000 prizes. She does not read the fine print, which has a deadline for a specific draw. However, she is already in the habit of sending 'gifts'. Examples are Citizens behind the badge, advancing American freedom, Fund for integrative Cancer treatment and some familiar ones like Am Against Drug abuse.

A second issue is all the political solicitations (she gets six to 12 inch stacks of mail per day. Some scare tactics of Lawyers requesting money - "they have put her on an important congressional committee" that leads her to believe without her money the political job wont get done. I think This is abusive of her and misuse/disrespectful of free speech. Nevertheless, being a generious person and wanting to help, all the solicitation become a burden and upsetting to this senior. Help!

Thank you
Patricia Sargent

thanks for the great work you do....I am seeing lots of iCloud scammers trying to get me to reply to emails saying I have won a prize from big name companies like CVS, Lowes, etc .,,, I delete but would like to start reporting these....I am trying but can't figure out an easy way to report these scammers.

I would add aggressive sales practices from car dealers to the list, the CARS act does not go far enough to protect consumers.

Publishers clearing house scammers keep calling my home. I cuss them out,hang up on them,etc. and it doesn't stop them from calling.

Thought ID theft has highest losses. ?

Why don't we have a govenment service to locate, arrest and shut them down.

Thank you for this information. We seniors are particularly vulnerable to scammers, and this helps us a lot.

I just contacted the FTC because I got a scam e-mail telling me my Social Security Number was used for Drug Trafficking in Texas and New Mexico! I don't even live anywhere these states! FYI... NEVER click on or open these scam e-mails!

I hope law enforcement is treating this like the huge crime wave it is. It is more than an inconvenience or annoyance. I hear stories of people loosing their life savings.

I report most of the email scams, but it takes time. It would be much easier if your program would allow us to forward these without going through the reporting portal. It is a constant battle. I have a call screen on my phone so never answer something I don't recognize, but I have seen texts that I have to block as I know they are scams. There really needs to be a crack down task force working on this. Lots of them are from out of the country.

Emails for payments to Geek Squad, Renewal charges for anti-virus programs like McAfee & Norton, I've dumped & blocked hundreds of them.

It is basically impossible to block the spam emails. Yes, they can be reported to the FTC but only individually, and the form is time consuming. EVERY spam email will have a different phony “From” email, even if there are multiple ones that appear to be from the same sender with same subject matter. There is absolutely no way to stop them. All advice says to just delete them - don’t open or reply. I was getting over 1000 spam emails daily, but interestingly that dropped to about 100-150 daily when I got a new phone. I check and group delete several times a day. Text messages (phone numbers) can at least be blocked. I also refuse cookies or modify them to “strictly necessary”; turning off all marketing and promotional settings. I agree that more aggressive measures are needed.

I have been getting emails from different vendors like Norton security thanking me for the purchase of their service on the day and time of the transaction mostly everyday with different names on them with a phone number for me to call them if I have any questions of the transaction. I just delete them and I have not reported them yet but I will now. Another thing that I have experienced is mostly all the people who walk in front of my door to try to sell some product or service without any proof of the company they represent are fraud and try to get my name and phone number for them to call me later but I do not give it to them. I do not trust no one at all. I get phone calls wanting to know if I have any Master Card and ask me to give them my name and date of birth to make sure it is me and I just hang up on them. I hope this helps somebody and make sure to put a Fraud Alert on your credit report with any of the 3 Credit Bureaus Like Experian.

Consumer education has no chance against fear and greed so ignorance and naivete will continue. Perhaps if the telco's had strong protection against SIM swaps and banks provided more than the weakest forms of 2FA we might have a fighting chance before the data brokers sell our PII to anyone with a credit card.

Please include Scam GAMES claiming PayPal or Cash App payouts.
I've followed the game rules and watched HUNDREDS of ads, and as soon as I reached enough to get paid, the site stalls never to reopen, or they want you to do tasks, like spin the wheel 100 times and the error page pops up saying come back tomorrow day after day... granted all that is lost is time, but time is money!

Someone called me today at 5:28 PM, on February 14th, from: caller ID; YELLOWST, 1-307-227-9080, and ask if this was Stephen? They said "Stephen, is this Stephen", I replied "yes this is Stephen". They said then "have a good rest of your day" and abruptly hung up. I searched the number on the internet to try to find out who it was, could not find anything out without paying a fee. So I called them back within about three minutes, it rang a few times then went to a busy signal, I tried twice later that same evening, and got the same answer.
I am wondering what kind of scam this is.

How can I know this site isn't a scam?